High School Students Stay Silent To Protest Mistreatment of Gays

Students at 1,776 high schools across the country protested
harassment of gay students last week by refusing to speak for an entire
school day, organizers of the event say.

Called the "Day of Silence" and coordinated by the New York
City-based Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, the
event was started in 1996 on college campuses, but has spread in recent
years to high schools. This year, in fact, GLSEN officials reported
that high schools far outnumbered the 346 colleges and universities
that participated in the April 10 protest.

The vow of silence taken simultaneously by thousands of students is
intended to draw attention to what many advocacy groups say is a
widespread and persistent problem: the bullying and harassment of
students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or "transgender"—or
simply perceived as such.

"The Day of Silence is a response to a major school safety issue,"
said Eliza Byard, the deputy executive director of GLSEN. "Harassment
in schools really takes a toll on young people and can keep them from
getting the education they deserve."

The bullying of students in school based on their sexual orientation
is compounded by a widespread tendency of teachers and administrators
to ignore the maltreatment, according to a two-year study of the issue
released last year by Human Rights Watch, a watchdog group in New York
City. ("Report Says Schools
Often Ignore Harassment of Gay Students," June 6, 2001.)

Most schools lack policies against harassment based on sexual
orientation, the report found, and only five states have laws that
prohibit discrimination against gay youths in school; no federal law is
aimed specifically at protecting homosexual students.

Advocates for gay students contend that the lack of protection
leaves such students vulnerable and afraid to report the abuses they
suffer from their classmates.

"For many schools, this [day] may be the first time they've been
made aware of what is a live issue for their students," Ms. Byard
said.

Sound of Silence

Students organizing silent protests at their schools last week
reported varying levels of support for their efforts from teachers and
administrators.

John Malloy, a 16-year-old gay student at Henry Clay High School in
Lexington, Ky., organized events for his 1,700-student school as well
as two other city schools.

"We have widespread teacher support," Mr. Malloy said.
"Unfortunately, our [school] administration has dropped the ball on
expressly approving the Day of Silence, choosing instead to maintain an
attitude of indifference."

The school's principal could not be reached for comment.

Phil Lindquist, a 17-year-old bisexual football player at the
970-student Pittsford-Mendon High School outside Rochester, N.Y., said
students who participated at his school remained silent from the start
of the school day at 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.

"I do think they are singled out," Mr. Lindquist said of students
who are not heterosexual. "I myself have received some comments that
have hurt."

But administrators and teachers have backed the students' plans, he
said, and "teachers at our school are gradually getting more involved
in stopping the discrimination."

'Significant' Problem

Administrators at Pittsford-Mendon High agreed to support the Day of
Silence activities as long as students still participated in class when
called upon—a condition to which organizers in the school's
Gay/Straight Alliance agreed.

"There will be no impact on instruction or safety," Principal Karl
R. Thielking said Tuesday.

The school does not have a specific policy to deal with harassment
based on sexual orientation—part of GLSEN's agenda—and
relies instead on a general anti-harassment policy.

Only a few incidents of anti-gay harassment have been reported to
the school's administration, Mr. Thielking said, "but if you were to
talk to students in our school who are impacted, they would say [the
problem] is significant.

"To my knowledge, it doesn't rise to the level of physical attacks,"
he added. "It has a lot to do with our society's use of the word 'fag'
and other words like that."

In Missoula, Mont., 18-year-old Michael Parrish said, teachers and
administrators "have been supportive of student expression and
particularly of this event." The city's Hellgate High School, which Ms.
Parrish attends, "has a special focus on diversity, and this fits in
well with that message," she said.

But when it comes to preventing harassment of gays in general at the
1,230-student school, she said, "I think the administration does the
best it can, but too many students who are singled out are too afraid
to come forward."

This is the fourth year that the Gay/Straight Alliance at the school
has organized local participation in the Day of Silence, said Ms.
Parrish, who has a gay parent but is heterosexual herself.

Vol. 21, Issue 31, Page 10

Published in Print: April 17, 2002, as High School Students Stay Silent To Protest Mistreatment of Gays

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